A.M. Roundup: Obama pushes college affordability

Good morning! It will be cooler today, but the storms should have passed us by. Barack Obama spent the night in Auburn, N.Y. and is off to SUNY Binghamton this afternoon for another education-themed event. A slew of protesters (and my colleague Rick Karlin) are going to be there to meet him. And the president will likely make unannounced stops in between. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in the New York City area with no announced public schedule. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will be at the State Fair in Syracuse. Here are this morning’s headlines…

“This is just an example of why people don’t want to go into public life,” Parker said of questions about the sale. She said the final price was within a range given to her by a realtor she consulted. (D&C)

The Times Union: The problem isn’t that Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy bought a house, or that he paid a bit less for it than full market value, or even that he bought it from someone whose organization he might be in a position to help in his official capacity. The problem is the Joint Commission on Public Integrity’s take on all this.//What is it about JCOPE that gives one the sense that it would rather err on the side of government officials and lobbyists rather than insist on the highest possible standards of transparency and integrity?//Who, in short, does JCOPE think it works for — the public, or the government and lobbying industry over which it is supposed to be a watchdog? (TU)